Duffield is a

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

and the United States. The surname emerged in the 1300s and is derived from the villages of Duffield in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

History

Hereditary surnames were first introduced in Britain in baronial families following the Norman Conquest in 1066. The knightly class began to adopt hereditary names in the 1100s, filtering down to most English families by 1400, although their form was still evolving. Around half of English surnames were derived from a location, either a specific village (Attenborough) or a topographical feature (e.g Hill, Wood). Most sources suggest the surname originated from the villages of Duffield in

and

. In 1891, 27% of Duffields lived in Yorkshire or a neighbouring county, a further 13% lived in Derbyshire or a neighbouring county and 14% lived in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

or a neighbouring county. It is thought that many of the Norfolk Duffields are descended from an immigrant family who took the surname as it was similar sounding to their original surname and it was already established in the area. Families began migrating abroad in enormous numbers during the political and religious discontent in England. Some of the first immigrants to cross the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

and move to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

bore the name Duffield; e.g., John Duffield, a boy of 14, landed in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, United States, in 1622. Benjamin Duffield made New Jersey his home in 1678. Over the next hundred years, the name Duffield was to be found in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and other eastern seaboard cities. Duffield is ranked the 10,366th most common out of 88,799 surnames in the United States.Genealogy

US Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, USA.

Notable people

* Alexander Duffield (1821–1890), English mining engineer, Hispanist and writer *

Andrew Duffield Andrew Peter Duffield (born 9 February 1958) is an Australian musician, producer and teacher. He has been a member, on keyboards, synthesisers or electronics, for various groups, including Whirlywirld, Models, and Absent Friends. Duffield has ...

(born 1958), Australian musician *

Barry Duffield Barry Duffield (born 28 February 1962) is an Australian actor, producer, scriptwriter and director from Billingham, England. He is mostly known for his portrayal of Lugo in the Starz television series ''Spartacus''. Early life Born 28 February ...

(born 1962), Australian actor, producer, scriptwriter and director * D. Bethune Duffield (1821–1891), American poet and attorney *

Brian Duffield Brian Duffield (born November 5, 1985) is an American filmmaker. He wrote and directed the 2023 sci-fi horror film '' No One Will Save You'' and the 2020 dark comedy coming-of-age film '' Spontaneous''. His previous writing credits include '' Lo ...

, American screenwriter *

Burkely Duffield Burkely Duffield (born August 9, 1992) is a Canadian actor known for his roles as Eddie Miller in ''House of Anubis'' and as Holden Matthews in '' Beyond''. His sister is actress and singer Victoria Duffield. Career Duffield made his screen deb ...

(born 1992), Canadian actor * David Duffield (sports commentator) (1931–2016), British cyclist and TV commentator *

David Duffield David Arthur Duffield (born 21 September 1940) is an American billionaire businessman in the software industry. He is the co-founder and former chairman of PeopleSoft, and co-founder and CEO emeritus of Workday, Inc., two publicly traded enterp ...

(born 1941), American software businessman * George Duffield (disambiguation), several people * JaCorian Duffield (born 1992), American athlete *

Jadey Duffield Jadey Duffield (born 15 February 1991) is a British actress, producer and screenwriter. Duffield rose to prominence for her role as Lara Darwin in feature film ''C.O.O.L.I.O'' (2014). Since then, Duffield has acted in various films, including ...

(born 1991), English actress, model and dancer * John Duffield (born 1939), British financier * Linda Duffield (born 1953), British diplomat * Paul Duffield (born 1985), Australian footballer *

Peter Duffield Peter Duffield (born 4 February 1969) is an English former professional footballer. A striker, he played for sixteen league clubs in 17 years. Duffield began his career as an 18-year-old with Sheffield United in 1987. In his time at Bramall La ...

(born 1969), English footballer * Richard Duffield (fl.1413–1435), English politician *

Robert Duffield (journalist) Robert Duffield (1935 - 2000) was a journalist who served as foreign editor of The Australian from 1968 until 1974. His single most memorable work was ''Rogue Bull'', a 1979 biography of Lang Hancock. Duffield won the Clarion Prize at the 1988 W ...

(1935–2000), Australian journalist *

Rosie Duffield Rosemary Clare Duffield (born 1 July 1971) is a British politician who was elected as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Canterbury (UK Parliament constituency), Canterbury in 2017 United Kingdom general election ...

(born 1971), British politician * Thomas Duffield (academic), Master of University College, Oxford * Thomas Duffield (died 1579), English politician * Thomas Duffield (MP for Abingdon) (1782–1854), English farmer and politician *

Victoria Duffield Victoria Eileen Elizabeth Duffield (born January 3, 1995) is a former Canadian singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress. She is best known for her debut single "Shut Up and Dance", which peaked at number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart in 2011 an ...

(born 1995), Canadian singer, actress and dancer * Dame

Vivien Duffield Dame Vivien Louise Duffield, (née Clore; born 26 March 1946) is an English philanthropist. Life and career Vivien Louise Clore was born to Jewish parents. Her father was millionaire businessman and philanthropist Sir Charles Clore and her m ...

(born 1946), British philanthropist * Walter Duffield (1816–1882), British pastoralist and politician in South Australia * William Duffield (painter) (1816–1863), British still-life painter * William Ward Duffield (1823–1907), American coal executive, railroad engineer and army officer * William E. Duffield (1922–2001), American politician from Pennsylvania

References

{{surname, Duffield

History

Notable people

See also

References